A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Skeletons provide new arthritis clues
A STUDY OF more than a thousand skeletons dating from the 8th to the 17th century shows that medieval Irish women of advanced years suffered arthritis. However, those who suffered from osteoporosis tended to be fitter than their modern-day equivalents.
“These clues could have vital implications for how we regard exercise in the treatment of osteoporosis today,” said Dr Carmel Silke of the Irish Society of Rheumatology ahead of its meeting in Sligo next weekend.
Use of tooth whitening product to be regulated
THE IRISH DENTAL Association has welcomed the passing of a new European Council Directive regulating the use of hydrogen peroxide, the chemical used in tooth whitening.
The directive prohibits the use of tooth whitening products containing more than 6 per cent of hydrogen peroxide and stipulates that tooth whitening can only be carried out under the supervision of a dentist.
Tooth whitening products containing up to 0.1 per cent of hydrogen peroxide will continue to be freely available to consumers. For products containing between 0.1 per cent and 6 per cent, a clinical examination and first treatment by a dentist will be required to ensure the absence of risk factors or oral pathologies, after which the patient will be able to continue the treatment by themselves.
Dublin-based dentist Tom Feeney said the new measures enhanced patient safety and removed uncertainty as to how and by whom tooth whitening should be performed in the EU.
“To be effective, a tooth whitening product has to have over 3 per cent hydrogen peroxide and the new regulations from the European Council prohibit products containing over 6 per cent hydrogen peroxide. The new regulations ensure that properly qualified dentists are carrying out what is a dental procedure, that safe products are being used, and that the treatment is restricted to those over 18,” he said.
Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness said: “The new Directive, which must be introduced by member states within the next 12 months, strengthens consumer protection taking on board the latest information from the European Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety.”
Public health nurses may hold key to solving crisis
THE KEY TO resolving the crisis in the health service could lie in investing more in the country’s public health nurses, a conference in Dublin will hear today.
Galway Senator Fidelma Healy Eames said 3,000 public health nurses in the country knock on 10,000 doors a day and have universal access to Irish families and schools, yet their potential is not being realised or recognised.
Ms Healy Eames says that instead of being used as efficiently as they could, public health nurses are just “fire fighting”. “I would like the Minister for Health to look at the huge potential value of the public health nurse and to ensure that mechanisms are put in place so that the vital informationthey are gathering is fed into the health system.” she said.
Ms Healy Eames, who is the patron of the Institute of Community Health Nursing (ICHN), will address its annual conference today at the Ashling Hotel in Dublin. The theme of the event is “Investing in Community Nursing”.
Mary O’Dowd, professional development officer with the ICHN, said that in the UK, 4,200 new health visitors have been put in place and this investment is yielding a seven-fold reduction in the use of remedial services later in life.
The conference is calling for more investment in public health nursing services to reduce the crisis in emergency departments.
“By investing in public health nursing services, both admissions and discharges could be reduced and the services and support to people in their own homes could be improved, said Ms Dowd.
